Wednesday, October 24 2018 14:35

ArmInfo.American helicopters acquired by Azerbaijan have a civilian purpose; they cannot be used for military purposes. Armenian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Anna  Naghdalyan said this on October 24 at a briefing commenting on the  acquisition by Azerbaijan of American helicopters.

"The arms race is always on the agenda of the Armenian side and we  urge the international community to avoid actions that contribute to  the arms race in our region or the spread of instability," said the  Spokeswoman for the Armenian Foreign Ministry.

In addition, as Naghdalyan pointed out, the Armenian side was assured  that American helicopters are being bought for civilian use, that is,  they are envisaged for civilian use. ''We were assured that these are  helicopters of civilian use, for emergency situations, and cannot  have military applications. This also applies to purchases of weapons  through third countries, " Anna Naghdalyan said.

To recall, on July 2, at a briefing in Yerevan, former Spokesman of  the Armenian Foreign Ministry Tigran Balayan, referring to the  demonstration of American-made Bell-412 helicopters at a military  parade in Baku, called not to believe everything that is written in  the media. According to him, the Armenian side started the  proceedings on this issue much earlier and found out that such  helicopters are produced in several countries under American  licenses, and they are intended for non-combat use.  Earlier in the  network, information appeared that Azerbaijan purchased American  helicopters MD-530F.  Azerbaijani Defense Minister Zakir Hasanov said  that during the military parade on June 26, state-of-the- art  systems, including US Bell 412, MI-24 helicopters, will be presented.  It is noteworthy that the United States previously declared a  moratorium on the sale of arms to the parties to the Karabakh  conflict.

To recall after the collapse of the USSR, in August 1992, the House  of Representatives and the US Senate jointly adopted the Freedom  Support Act, which provides for assistance to Russia and other newly  independent states in order to create a model of democratic  governance and a liberal economy. In 1992, taking into account the  war provoked against Nagorno-Karabakh, thanks to the work of the  Armenian community and lobbyists, the 907th Resolution was included  in the text of the Freedom Support Act, prohibiting the US government  to render any assistance to Azerbaijan until the US president is  assured and, therefore, reports to Congress that official Baku is  taking effective steps to unblock Armenia and does not use force  against Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh. After the events of September  11, 2001, on the basis of the presence of a direct threat to national  security, President George W. Bush addressed the Congress, asking for  an opportunity to bypass Resolution 907 in each fiscal year and  provide military assistance to Azerbaijan to fight terrorism and  ensure border security of Azerbaijan and antiterrorist coalition  actions, assuring that this assistance will in no way interfere with  the Armenia-Azerbaijan negotiation process and will not be used  against Armenia.